London fire: Tube station evacuated as emergency services tackle ‘major’ incident
A LONDON tube station has been evacuated after emergency services were called to "investigate" smoke coming from an underground tunnel at Elephant and Castle, the capital's fire service has confirmed.
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London Fire Brigade are investigating the cause of smoke coming through a tunnel at Elephant and Castle's underground station. The capital's fire service was alerted about the incident at 11:11pm yesterday.
Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters from Dowgate, Lambeth, Old Kent Road, Dockhead and Peckham are now on hand to deal with the incident.
Station Commander Keith McDermott, who is at the scene, said: “Firefighters are currently investigating smoke coming from a tunnel.
“Trains are not currently running through the station.
"At this stage, there are no reports of any injuries.”
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The cause of the incident remains unknown and a spokesperson from the brigade has claimed crew members “could be on the scene for a number of hours tonight”.
Bystanders in south London initially claimed around half a dozen fire engines arrived at Elephant and Castle tube station just before midnight.
The incident has caused travel disruption on underground services and the road.
Transport for London issued a warning regarding an “access issue” at Elephant and Castle.
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TfL said: “This station is closed while we respond to a fire alert.
“Tickets are being accepted on London Buses.”
Twitter account @JambusterLondon, which is dedicated to updating motorists in the capital about disruption on the road, issued a similar warning for those travelling southbound along the A201 London Road at junction A3.
They claimed: “The road is blocked due to an emergency services incident.
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“Use alternative routes. Traffic is stationary on approach.”